Imagine that you are answering the final question from very popular quiz…and the last question is…Which is the fastest growing plant on this planet having almost the same strength as the steel? Hmmm…Maybe you cannot bring to your mind the answer quickly. Ok…But when you will hear some other amazing facts about it, you will probably remember it. The correct answer is – bamboo.
A brief introduction: bamboo is a woody perennial evergreen plant that is actually part of the true grass family. There are over 1000 species of bamboo on the earth. Bamboo can be found all over the world in varied climates, from the cold mountainous regions to the hot tropical areas. They can be found in North and South America, throughout East Asia, northern Australia, and southern Africa. Although they can grow to towering heights – ranging from miniatures to 60 meters, bamboo is not actually considered a tree. Bamboo along with being one of the tallest grasses in the world is also the fastest growing plant in the world, capable of growing up to 1 meter per day!
In addition to these characteristics, bamboo also boasts incredible environmental benefits. Despite its lowly reputation, bamboo may be the strongest stuff on the planet. Its growth pattern makes it easily accessible in a minimal amount of time. Bamboo provided the first re-greening in Hiroshima after the atomic blast in 1945.
A grove of bamboo returns 35 percent more oxygen into the air than an equivalent stand of trees. By taking in more carbon dioxide and emitting more oxygen bamboo naturally battles global warming and climate change. Bamboo does it year around because it is an evergreen. Fuel made from bamboo would have a neutral carbon dioxide impact because any fuel made and burned from bamboo will release the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that was consumed by the bamboo while it was growing. In an age ridden with fuel wars, and an ever-declining ozone layer, natural products like bamboo have taken a front scene in the international energy crises, primarily for production of renewable ethanol and diesel.
Bamboo is exquisite component of landscape design. Its anti-erosion properties create an effective watershed, stitching the soil together along fragile river banks, deforested areas, and in places prone to earthquakes and mud slides.
Another important benefit of bamboo cultivation is that it helps sustain China’s endangered panda population. Giant pandas usually eat only the four or five kinds that grow in their habitat of southwestern China.
Bamboo is strong–it’s one of the strongest building materials in the world. Yet despite its strength, when made into clothing, bamboo is softer than the softest cotton and smoother than the smoothest silk. The bamboo fiber is eco-friendly, without any chemical additives. It takes 150 grams of chemical fertilizers to produce one cotton t-shirt. In contrast, bamboo requires very little water because it is 300 percent more absorbent than cotton and it requires no harmful pesticides or insecticides. In addition, growing bamboo actually enriches the soil with nutrients while growing cotton depletes it. More importantly, bamboo fiber is a unique biodegradable textile material. As a natural cellulose fiber, bamboo fabric can be 100% biodegraded in soil by microorganisms and sunlight. The decomposition process does not cause any pollution in the environment.
What other about bamboo? Thomas Edison also successfully used a carbonized bamboo filament in his first experiment with the light bulb.
In Limon, Costa Rica, only the bamboo houses from the National Bamboo Project stood after their violent earthquake in 1992.
It is interesting also that…bamboo furniture is light, durable, and affordable…bamboo shoots provide nutrition for million of people worldwide. In Japan, the antioxidant properties of pulverized bamboo bark prevents bacterial growth and it’s used a natural food preservative….current research point to bamboo's potential in a number of medicinal uses, especially in cure of some types of venereal diseases and cancers…bamboo is a mystical plant as a symbol of strength, flexibility, tenacity, endurance, luck and compromise. Throughout Asia, bamboo has for centuries been integral to religions ceremonies, art, music and daily life.
With time and dedicated research, perhaps our future will be a bit brighter due to the widespread use of bamboo. We will be not surprised to see a bamboo plantation pop up in a field near us!
